Teaching Newcomers? Effective Writing Strategies for ELL Newcomers
The authors of this blog empathize with the feelings of newcomers as they face the daunting task of writing in a language they don’t know.
To prepare for teaching newcomers this, they begin by reminding educators that
- newcomers to their classes have a wide variety of educational and personal experiences and abilities,
- they are at various stages of language acquisition, and progress through these stages depends on their skills in their first language,
- the classroom should be welcoming to reduce anxiety and lower newcomers’ affective filter
When teaching writing, lessons should
- be adapted to meet the learning goals for these students.
- focus on growth that can be built on to align with standards
- develop academic vocabulary
- focus on language patterns and the basics of grammar in context
- provide scaffolding through translanguaging, model texts, sentence frames, and word walls.
The authors also recommend modifying assessments by simplifying the topic, allowing illustrations, or focusing on only one or two skills. They then suggest four creative writing activities such as making a recipe book, journaling, or writing thank you cards.
When the three educators who contributed ideas to this blog were asked what is most important when teaching newcomers, they replied that
- “We need to be understanding, patient, and kind. Visuals, labels, repetition, wait time, TPR (total physical response), body language (hand gestures, body language, facial expressions), translations, recognizing their culture.” -Benita Afonso
- “Patience, don’t try to overwhelm them or push them too fast. Make them feel comfortable and let them be a part so that they feel like they can ask questions etc.” -Sheri Swearengin
- “Get to know them and build on the assets that they bring to develop their English language skills.”
Here you can find more information and links to each of the topics above.
Burgos recognizes the challenge of teaching writing to multilingual learners of English (MLEs). He states that the use of culturally relevant or responsive teaching (CRT) can “make writing tasks more engaging and connected to learners’ experiences and culture.”
